General Fink approached the window by which he had been standing before, and looked out for a few moments. Some one, perhaps, had passed with whom he was acquainted, for he bowed several times and raised his hand as if he were beckoning. After this intermission, at which the queen and her confessor had looked in amazement, he opened the letter and commenced to read.
It was a demand from Queen Maria Josephine to the Austrian general to do all in his power to ruin their common enemy. “If we are energetic,” continued the general, reading in a loud voice, “it will soon be done. At the battle of Collin, God laid his mark upon Frederick; Prussia will have no more victories; her arrogant ruler has sung his last Te Deum.”
At this moment the bells of the nearest church commenced their solemn chimes, and from the fort behind the castle the thunder of cannon was heard. The queen rose from her seat and rushed to the window.
“What is the meaning of this?” said she, breathlessly. “Why these bells? Why this cannon? What—”
The renewed thunder of cannon drowned her words. She threw open the window, and now all the church bells were joined in one harmonious chant. From beneath the queen’s windows there arose a slow, solemn hymn, and as if borne aloft by invisible spirits, the words “Te Deum laudamus” were heard by the queen. Her eyes sparkled. “For whom is this Te Deum?” said she, breathlessly.
“It is for my master,” said General Fink, solemnly—“for the King of Prussia, who at Rossbach, with twenty thousand men, has gained a victory over sixty thousand French soldiers.”
A cry of rage, and Maria Josephine fell fainting to the floor.
CHAPTER XII. CAMP SCENE
It was a cold winter day, and in the Prussian camp at Newmark every one was occupied making fires.